2000 Volume 51 Issue 7 Pages 627-638
The purpose of this study is to examine actuality and its factors about “the needs to obtain information” (abbreviated henceforth as “needs”). Based on a pilot study, twenty three items were selected as living information which are required to support the daily activities of university students such as “education/study” and “job offers”. The authors analyzed the factors forming the needs from two standpoints. One is attributed to the university students who are concerned with molding their identities and the other is the social conditions of regional life.
In 1998, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 618 university students, 316 in urban Tokyo, and 302 in rural Akita.
Regional differences were analyzed, and it was found that “education/study” was required by students in Tokyo while “job offers” was sought by students in Akita. As to the other items, little difference was found between the two areas, which may be explained by the well-developed transportation and communication networks.
The total samples were divided into several pairs of categories, which are components of attributes such as male and female. The analysis of the samples in each category brought about a lot more regional differences; “education/study”, “medical treatment” and “meals and cooking” were more important in Tokyo while “disasters”, “job offers” and “speciality stores” were considered more important in Akita.
This questionnaire survey shows that both the attribute of university students and the social conditions of regional life influenced the students in forming their needs.
